Las Cruces students compete in Poetry Out Loud state meet

LAS CRUCES — Two students from Doña Ana County are among the 11 finalists headed to Sunday’s Poetry Out Loud state finals in Albuquerque.

Poetry Out Loud, a partnership of the Poetry Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts sponsored locally by New Mexico Arts, focuses on recitations of memorized poems as a way to promote public speaking as well as the study of poetry. The competition provides lesson plans and educational materials, including an online anthology from which participants select three poems.

This year’s competition centers poems celebrating American history and culture, according to Poetry Out Loud’s website, in recognition of the United States’ 250th anniversary.

Roma Subedi, a sophomore at Arrowhead Park Early College High School, chose Walt Whitman’s elegy for President Abraham Lincoln, “O Captain! My Captain!” as her primary selection. She said Whitman’s poem drew her attention for its emotional interplay of triumph and grief.

Subeda, 14, is planning to complete an associate degree while completing high school through a dual credit program, with her eyes on entering the medical field one day. She also writes her own poetry and participates in a poetry club at school.

And while Whitman is remembered for his free verse, Subedi herself enjoys composing within structured forms, their rhyme schemes and meters.

“I like how with some kinds of poetry, there are rules,” she said in an interview. “It gives shape to your writing. I found this love for poetry in middle school when they would make us write haiku. I love sonnets: They’re so fun, counting the 10 syllables over and over to make sure you have it right.”

At Organ Mountain High School, senior Evaleen Vasquez describes herself as a “band nerd,” where she plays brass instruments and is especially passionate about the French horn.

The 18-year-old said she reads voraciously — “a lot of fantasy, horror, and a couple of romances once in a while … anything that’s got a bit of adrenaline to it” — and writes both poetry and prose. Like Subedi, she envisions entering the medical field in the future yet is already operating a baked-good business of her own.

Among Vasquez’s selections for Sunday is “Mist,” by Puerto Rican-born poet Lola Rodríguez de Tió, in a personal tribute to her family’s Hispanic heritage. She said she had hoped to recite it in the original Spanish, but the rules required her to stick with the English translation featured in the anthology.

The other competitors include Vinny Valenzuela, Hadas Frish, Aspen Keith, and Brendon Moore from Albuquerque; Ameena Ankliss from Montezuma; Sam Roberts from Portales; Kokomi Williams from Rio Rancho; Elizabeth Nickell from Santa Fe; and Carolina Moncrief Rivera-Torres from Tesuque, according to New Mexico Arts.

At 1 p.m., the students will convene at the National Hispanic Cultural Center’s Albuquerque Journal Theater for the competition, which is free to the public and suitable for all ages. The center is located at 1701 Fourth SW.

One winner will receive a $200 prize and an expense-paid trip to the national finals in Washington, D.C., in April. The state finalist’s school or representing organization will also receive a $500 stipend for poetry materials.

Sunday’s event will feature state Poet Laureate Manuel González, the Mariachi Herencia Varsity band from Atrisco Heritage Academy and a presentation of the 2026 Phyllis Kennedy Teacher’s Award.

The Poetry Out Loud national finals in Washington will be held April 27-29 with a $20,000 award presented to the national champion.

Algernon D’Ammassa is the Journal’s southern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at adammassa@abqjournal.com.